episode_0026

“I ate until I was full.”

After eating meat with Jiwon, they went outside.

“Hey, don’t hit your stomach in public, aren’t you embarrassed?”

“It’s not a big deal.”

I’m not sure what level of okay this really is.

While staring at Jiwon for a while…

“Hey. Let’s go to the mart for a moment.”

I need to buy things to prepare breakfast tomorrow.

Since the sun hasn’t set yet, the goal was to quickly buy and return before sunset, taking Jiwon as a porter.

Entering the mart, Jiwon said she would prepare breakfast for tomorrow.

And she offered to make army stew.

I remembered the incident with kimchi stew that Jiwon made.

To prevent another disaster like the kimchi stew incident, I quickly stopped Jiwon.

“I can do it myself, really, are you sure?”

Jiwon apologized earnestly and insisted, but I reassured her.

Don’t feel sorry. Not doing it is more appreciated.

Jiwon understood and started looking around.

“I want some snacks.”

I agreed with Jiwon and asked her to buy some snacks.

Buying snacks is fine, but now I need to save some money.

Although my mom gives me pocket money, I decided to treat this as emergency funds and save money.

Arriving at the mart, Jiwon bought various snacks.

“Is it okay to buy this many?”

“It’s fine because we can share snacks, no problem.”

Since I planned on sharing them anyway, buying plenty wasn’t an issue.

Jiwon seemed slightly apologetic as she looked at me.

“I’ll pay for the drinks instead!”

Saying that, Jiwon took two drinks and headed to the counter to pay.

Considering what I’ve already bought, she probably feels guilty.

I found a somewhat endearing side to her and watched her go.

After finishing the payment and buying trash bags, as we started putting away the items we bought today…

This should be enough for about a week, I thought, as I was about to leave.

Suddenly, my stomach started to ache a bit.

This must be a signal to go to the restroom.

“Hey, let’s go to the restroom.”

“Why? Are you going to poop?”

“It’s just a quick visit, I’ll be back soon, just watch the stuff.”

Jiwon nodded quietly at my words.

She’s not a little kid; she can handle watching the stuff by herself.

Leaving the items with her, I headed to the restroom.

**

I was drying my wet hands with a handkerchief when I came out of the restroom.

There seemed to be some commotion outside.

Curious, I approached and saw a man and Jiwon arguing.

Wondering what was happening, I went closer and asked Jiwon what was going on.

“This man is trying to take our stuff!”

Looking at the stuff Jiwon pointed to, it definitely belonged to us.

“No, this crazy guy says this is mine!!”

It seems like there was a mix-up with the belongings, leading to a heated argument.

“Sir, this is actually our stuff, did you perhaps pick it up by mistake?”

The man glared at me angrily.

“Do you have proof! Show me proof!!”

When he demanded proof, I replied, “Yes, I do.”

I had more than enough evidence.

“There are receipts matching the purchases here, and if you’re still doubtful, there’s CCTV footage you can check.”

The man looked flustered at my words.

“Who are you to interfere! Hey! Are you his boyfriend or something!”

“Yes.”

Boyfriend? Even though Jiwon may seem clueless and naive, I’m the only one who can lay a hand on her.

As I said that, the man, taken aback, started pointing fingers at Jiwon.

“Hey! She should just stay inside and cook quietly, why come out and make a fuss!”

Those words instantly set me off.

Insulting Jiwon…? I curse at Jiwon too, but that alone doesn’t make me angry.

The sole reason I got the angriest is one thing.

“Hey! Damn it, go cook! Do you think you can eat the food made by this bastard?”

I got the most upset at the idea of Jiwon cooking.

“That bastard caused a huge fire pillar while making kimchi stew where there was no fire! Do you think you can eat the food of such a person!”

The reason I got the angriest was that my survival instinct, wanting to live, told me to get mad.

“What the hell is wrong with this crazy guy!”

The man soon got angry at me again.

Then, a staff member behind him approached, holding a trash bag with belongings.

“Sir, these seem to be your belongings.”

“You left them at the counter.”

Realizing the situation, the man cleared his throat.

“Be careful, these young people nowadays are so disrespectful.”

Blushing with embarrassment, the man tried to leave the store.

“Just a moment!”

I immediately stopped the man and grabbed him.

“What’s wrong with you!”

Did this guy lose his mind along with his age?

“If you’ve done something wrong, you should apologize.”

“Apologize to my girlfriend quickly.”

Upon hearing this, Jiwon looked surprised and glanced at me.

If I have something to apologize for to Jiwon, I do, but this guy dares not to apologize and just tries to leave.

When I told the man to apologize quickly, he just cleared his throat, coughed awkwardly, approached Jiwon, and said, “I… I’m sorry.”

Then he left with his belongings without a proper apology.

It wasn’t a sincere apology.

But still, he apologized.

“Let’s go back.”

“Yeah…”

Jiwon nodded slightly and said, “Yeah.”

What did I do wrong?

It seems like my face is a bit red too.

When we arrived home, Jiwon looked at me.

Then she quietly said, “Thank you for today…”

“For what?”

“Just… everything.”

“I feel so sorry for always relying on you.”

Has she finally gone crazy?

I don’t understand why she suddenly wants to do things she never did before.

They say you’ll die if you do things you don’t usually do.

Is this guy trying to die today?

Suddenly doing something unusual to die?

Is this the new form of suicide I’ve only heard about?

As I stared at Jiwon for a long time, she hid her face and went into her room.

I really don’t know what’s going on.

Today, I felt even more frustrated than usual.

I even thought about going to confront her right now, but maybe she had a tough day today.

Let’s just try to understand today and go to my room to lie down.

What should I make for breakfast tomorrow?

**

Sheesh, she’s really lost it, hasn’t she?!

Seeing Jihu’s behavior today, I feel like I’m going crazy.

Seeing such a cool side of him all of a sudden almost gave me a heart attack.

When the man started an argument with him, I was so flustered that I almost cried.

Back when I was a man, I could just use force to handle situations.

Now, I’ve become weaker, with fluctuating emotions, feeling only anger and sadness.

Thinking that he got mad because of me, Jihu just seemed so cool to me.

Thinking about Jihu like that, I started kicking the blanket with my foot.

Thump–

As the force of my kicks against the blanket increased, I realized dust was flying around and stopped myself.

A macho guy like me feels embarrassed about this.

Seems like I’m slowly turning into a woman, both physically and emotionally.

In this situation, it’s better not to come back.

Instead, I wish I could have this body for the rest of my life.

After feeling embarrassed for a while under the covers,

I started to think that I was just causing trouble for Jihoo every day.

Not working for Jihoo’s sake.

But not doing household chores either.

I felt like I should do something. I got up from my seat and turned on the laptop.

Well… This is all I can do right now.

Let’s work hard on the one thing I’m doing now and succeed.

Success, which I only talked about every day, has now become my goal.

So, please wait a little longer, Jihoo.

Someday, when I succeed, I will definitely repay you for this favor, Jihoo.

With that in mind, I started writing diligently for Jihoo.

“It’s tough…”

My fingers hurt, and no more ideas come to mind.

With the thought of just wanting to rest, I lay on the bed as it is, about to fall asleep…

“Hey, are you sleeping?”

Jihoo opened the door and came in.

What’s going on? Is there something you want to ask? I thought.

“Are you hungry?”

“Let’s order delivery.”

Suddenly, Jihoo started suggesting ordering delivery.

It’s so… sudden, isn’t it?

Since Jihoo suddenly suggested ordering delivery,

I could only nod and say yes as me…